Murder He Wrote, Western Conquest win NYSS

HAMBURG, N.Y.--- Murder He Wrote registered a giant shocker at Buffalo Raceway Friday night as he rallied in deep stretch to pull off the $92.50 upset in the $60,200 first division of the New York Sire Stakes for 3-year-old pacing colts and geldings. Murder He Wrote went the mile in 1:53.4, the fastest time of the season at the Hamburg half-mile oval.

In the second $60,200 division, things were much calmer as Western Conquest (Brent Holland) held off I'm All Heart (Matt Kakaley) by a neck in 1:53.4, the same as the first leg. The track record will remain for the time being of 1:52.3 set by Steelehead Hanover in 2012.

Former Western New York regular Jeff Gregory was extremely pleased in getting Murder He Wrote to the finish line first. "It was a special win tonight because Linda Toscano owns and bred this horse. He is a home bred."

Moliere Hanover (Jim Morrill Jr.) put up the grueling fractions of 27.2, 56.0 and 1:24.4. Those times were a perfect recipe for the the closers. Murder He Wrote showed the best kick in the stretch and beat a hard-charging Neat (Holland) by a neck. Moliere Hanover was extremely game and held on for third.

The 2-3-6 trifecta combination returned $3738.50 for a mere buck.

Murder He Wrote (Kenneth J-JK Dancing Queen) is owned by the Camelot Stable. It was his second victory of the season and pushed his earnings to $43,010 and $97,845 lifetime.

In the second division, Western Conquest ($5.90) managed to grab the top just before the quarter marker and re-inherited the lead past the half as the first over Ideal Cowboy made a brief bobble. After that, it was a matter of battling any challengers in the stretch and I'm All Heart (Kakaley) tried but came up a mere neck short.

"They were really smoking into the first turn," Holland said of the start with Western Conquest. "Coming down the stretch, he really hung in there and was really fast and good tonight."

Owned by Tanah Merah Farms and trained by Erv Miller, Western Conquest (American Ideal-Aries Conquest) has now won three times in seven starts in 2014, bankrolling $98,300 and $152,313 in his career.

In the Excelsior A Series worth $12,500 each, Cabbie's Delight (Morrill) took the first leg in 1:55.2 and returned $2.20 while Goldin Parachute (Kakaley) used the passing lane late to post a 1:56.2 win. The victory was worth $13.60 to his backers.

The Excelsior B Series, which had a purse of $6,500 each, saw American Force (Gregory) cover the mile in 1:57.1 and return $10.60 while in the second leg, Mark MacDonald steered Diabando to a $7.30 victory in 1:57.1.

It was home sweet home for Lutetium as he returned to Buffalo Raceway after a two-week journey to Vernon and Tioga Downs and went wire-to-wire again for driver Kevin Cummings. Lutetium went the mile in 1:58 and returned $4.10. He is owned by Colleen Girdlestone and trained by Mark Laidlaw.

Racing will continue on Saturday night with another 13-race card on tap with a 6:40 p.m. post time.

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